In one of our final classes we discussed mock news shows such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and decided that they are info-tainment. They provide the information in an entertaining manner.
While perusing the politico website, I encountered a part of their website called "Politico Playback." In these videos, the politico staff comb through all the various late night info-tainment shows and highlight the most pertinent parts of the shows that are of interest to the visitors of politico.com. The clips are politics related and highlight what these late night comedians have to say about current political events and politicians.
The fact that a political website has a section devoted to clips from info-tainment news shows that they have an impact on the country as a whole and are deemed significant enough to watch by the people who frequent politico.
Cool find. I think its undeniable that our lives are heavily influenced by infotainment shows. I think this is somewhat scary since it seems perhaps, that we trust these sources more than the regular news, since newscasters like John Stewart, appear to be just like us, not like the politicians or the media thats trying to skew things. But everyone has an agenda...
ReplyDeleteInfotainment news, by its very nature, has to have at least some relevant info. While not a legitimate alternative to official sources of news, infotainment is still a very important source of information for many Americans who no longer read the newspaper or even watch news programs on tv.
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